Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, School Improvement, Social Studies

Civic Education: A Forgotten Subject in the World of High Stakes Testing

In this installment of the Civic Education Series, we look at the impact of standardized testing on social studies and civics curriculum. How Did We Get Here? (or, “Yay, History!”) The first half of the 20th century saw several major education “reform” efforts.  The federal government inserted itself several times with major legislation, including Eisenhower’s […]

Posted inFrom the Front Lines, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Opinion, School Improvement, Uncategorized

Data-Driven Politics

One of the driving forces behind the advancement of bubble-test tyranny in our school systems today is the concept of data-driven decision-making. Back before we tested every student in every subject on almost every day of the year, cigar-chomping school administrators just pulled decisions out of their backsides and hoped they worked. They threw the […]

Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Opinion, School Improvement, Uncategorized

The Educational Reformer's Orthodoxy

Joel Klein’s veracity was challenged–shredded might be a better word–in a recent article in The American Prospect. The best line in the piece was “Klein didn’t overcome demographic odds; he fulfilled them.” The powerful, eviscerating truth of this simple line erases every last vestige of credibility The Legend of Klein ever had. Michelle Rhee’s breathless […]

Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Middle School, School Improvement

Procedures versus Concepts: A Mathematical Dilemma

There have been a lot of articles lately debating procedural teaching and concepts-based teaching in the classroom. As an elementary school teacher, this topic is of particular interest as mathematical reform models are sweeping through our curriculum. Whether you are a Common Core Standards state or, as in Virginia, simply “aligned” with Common Core, mathematical […]

Posted inElementary School, From the Front Lines, How to Fix Education, Opinion, School Improvement, Uncategorized

Contextual Accountability

Every school is a microcosm of the community it serves—that is, every school that serves any and all students in the neighborhood. Peaceful schools are nestled in peaceful environs. If there are drugs or violence in the streets, educators will contend with drugs and violence working their way into the school like crickets through unseen […]

Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Opinion, School Improvement, Uncategorized

The Pundit's Miseducation

If you want to find evidence that American schools are failing, your best bet is to look closely at the tortured logic and disingenuous argumentation issuing from today’s education reform movement. If these people were educated in American public schools, then it’s clear: we failed (miserably) to produce measured, ethical reasoners who rightly wield the […]